Sunday 10 October 2010

Day 34 Brighton to London 62 miles

A huge thank you to everyone who has followed this blog, to everyone who has sponsored me, and everyone who has hosted me. keep checking back there will be a photo vid in the next few days.



A Great BIG Thank You


The After Party

Thursday 7 October 2010

Thursday 30 September 2010

Sunday 26 September 2010

Day 22 Manchester to Shrewsbury 82 miles



Day 21 Morcambe to Manchester 57 miles

With special thanks to Jim and Gill at the Craigwell in Morcambe for putting me up for the night. A the great view of Barrow from my window. This is a super B&B and I highly recommend the salmon and scrambled egg for breakfast!



Saturday 25 September 2010

Day 20 Grasmere to Morecambe 44 miles

With many thanks to Paul @ Destination Cycles in Lancaster I got my front axle replaced and was back on the road in no time. I also popped in to see the team at Origin for a photo call it was great to finally meet my boss Peter Henry and thank you for your kind words.



Day 19 Eskdalemuir to Grasmere 84 miles

Day 18 Glasgow to Eskdalemuir 92 miles

Stayed at the Samye Ling Tibetan Monastery meeting some wonderful characters

Monday 13 September 2010

Day 9 Braemar to Aberlour 77 miles

Didn't get off to the best of starts this morning discovering I'd left one of my pairs of cycling shorts in Dunfermline, so I'm down to one pair now. hmmmm. Said goodbye to the guys and headed off about 10am. It was yet more hills. up and down and I didn't seem to be making much progress. I figured I was just tired from the past two days of 80 miles. Actually my lock had been rubbing my wheel for the past 33miles, which I discovered at lunch time and things got a lot easier after that.

Today's highlights included an old railway carriage on top of a hill, I have no idea how it got there and seeing Balmoral Castle even if it was a tiny blip on the landscape from my perspective.

The rain came in at about midday and didn't subside until about 4pm. Still I made good time and my host tonight Robbie asked if I had wings when I texted him at 2.30 to say I was only 25 miles away. I was tempted to say they were water wings due to my current sodden condition. Literally I had two buckets of water on my feet most of the afternoon. I got into Dufftown at 4.30pm and sampled some of Scotland's finest before doing the last 7 miles up to my final destination. The day culminated with a tasty dinner with Robbie and Nancy and a wee dram.

Day 8 Dunfermline to Braemar 76 miles

Was up early in fact just after Sarah who'd woken at 7.30am. Well burns tend to keep unsociable hours. By 9am I'd cooked dinner and made lunch. At this point I decided to sort some accommodation for the next few days as currently I was going to be camping for 10 nights in the Scottish Highlands, brrr. This brought me to 11.30 before I finally left but not to worry as I only had a short day ahead of me, Blairgowrie around 40 miles.

The roads were good and I was stopped by a sweet old couple who gave me £7 in Kilnross. On I went and was given another donation when I stopped at a cottage to ask for directions. A good day unfolding and lovely weather. I loved Perth and vowed to go back. while I was there I looked for a bike shop for minor servicing but both were closed. My directions had come from the guys in Millets where I bought a fresh waterproof to replace the leaking pink one and an extra thermal layer.

On the road to Blairgowrie I passed Scone Palace and Old Scone both names amusing me and arrived in the township at around 4pm. Deciding there was still plenty of day left I chose to carry on and was glad I did because what lay before me was my first real taste of the Cairngorm mountains. Initially they were long, moderate inclines. but then came a 12% that went on for what must have been 2-3 miles. I was bucketing sweat but also running short of water, so limited my intake which wasn't helping. when i finally got to the top I filled my water bottle from the toilet sink of Glenshee ski resort that resided at the summit run down to Braemar. For I feared that I wasn't going to make it to Braemar before night fall with several miles still to go and the day pushing on.

As it was it was all down hill from there on and I got a good speed of about 23 mph all the way making it to my destination well before dark. The assistant warden kindly donated my spot for the night at the campsite on the edge of town and I settle in for a good evening of beer and conversation with the 4 Belgium gents who were pitched next to me.

Saturday 11 September 2010

Day 7 Wooler to Dunfermline 87 miles

The day started off wet and after having said my goodbyes at the hostel I was flying through the lanes. The surprise that I'd covered 15 miles in the first hour made me feel good. Bend after bend with long slow climbs a made my way up, a sign greeting me as I crossed into Scotland at Coldstream. I had lunch overlooking a wind farm and enjoyed laying in the grass against my bike watching them rotate as I ate. I was soon off again and made it to Edinburgh at about 3pm, having grown a dislike for Jaguar drivers who seemed to make me a target for the afternoon.

Having spent an hour riding round seeing all the points of the city yes I was lost I found my way out onto the A90, but about half way down it said no cycles not i saw no way foo so I just kept going Hoping that the Forth Road Bridge allowed bikes across otherwise i was in for a 40 mile round trip. Luckily it did and I had reached Dunfermline by 5.30pm having narrowly avoided being struck by a couple of cars.
Tonight I stay with an old Uni friend Rach, her partner James a good lad and their lovely daughter Sarah. And if your reading this Rach, I loved the chilli Spaghetti Bolongnase.

Day 6 Newcastle to Wooler 60 miles

Left Newcastle at about 10am and got half a mile to the pedestrian tunnel under the tyne where i was told the lifts were out of order and I needed to be shuttled over to the other side in an mpv with a trailer. Had a chat with the Raleigh racer rider who'd just got of work about the renovations to the tunnel and then was off again through the back lanes of northern Newcastle. I got lost and spent quite a while looking for the A192 but finally found it on a slip road and was away again.

This led me to Morpeth where i had lunch in the shadow of the war memorial. having set off again i discovered a beautiful flower garden just around the corner where i could have sat instead. still. A fellow cyclist complimented me, I think, on my outfit. telling me the colour suited me down to the ground followed by a horse laugh.
I headed for the A697 and was on the A1 for all of 30 seconds before filtering off onto the picturesque lanes of the Northumberland countryside. Several points of interest broke the monotony apart from the scenery. they included a cattery called Complete Catisfaction (you can see what they did there)an overgrown old style garage and a telephone box with its door ripped off and left at a 45 degree angle inside the box. The rain was intermittent and it had been raining on me for 30 sec before i noticed it but i managed to out ride the rain clouds and didn't get too wet. I took a quick detour to see an old Tor which saw me sneaking through a farmers field for pictures before returning to my route and heading up to the YHA hostel that had kindly been donated by Mic the owner. Though i did call him Chris when i arrived, doh.Fairly standard YHA room and had a chat with some walkers Mick, Bob, and Ruth before heading to bed.

Thursday 9 September 2010

Day 5 North York Moors to Newcastle 66 miles




Woke up twice this morning once at 4am and then again at 8.30am I decided to get up on the second occasion but it was very hard to get back to sleep following the first. The cold was bitter and there was a layer of water in the inside of the tent. However the view that met me when I woke more than made up for it. The low mist covering the moors made them look stunning.

I set off at 8.30am more to warm up than anything else taking it slowly through the winding roads that rose and fell frequently. Once off the moors I started off up the A19 but switched to quieter roads quickly the lorries getting decidedly close today. It was a good choice and I soon found myself in Hartlepool, where I had lunch on the dock.

I then took the coastal road to Peterlee before rejoining the A19 hoping for a quieter ride further north. I was in luck and I made good time up to Newcastle getting in mid afternoon. I had a lovely dinner with the O'Dohertys and then went out for a few drinks with Gavin.

Day 4 Hull to North York Moors 56 miles

I was extremely tired when I left Hull and wanted to give up at this point, all my muscles aching. By Beverley I was refocused and picked up a couple of layers as I'd been warned that it was going to be cold in the hills.

From here I carried on passing through Wetwang where I stopped for lunch before heading on to Malton and up to Helmsley. Two Jack Russell puppies with their head out of a van window amusing me greatly. The rain held until I arrived in the last town before the Moors and just as I walked into the shop to pick up provisions, the heavens opened solidly for a half hour. With the best wished of a local, I head off, checking with a the blue spectacles wearing postie, that I was going in the right direction, as I left the town. I didn't get too wet as I cycled up onto the Moors and after 3-4 miles of steep climbing I found a field to pitch in deciding the risk of a farmer with a gun as apposed to a car taking me out on the side of the road, was the lesser of two evils. Fortunately neither occurred but I was nervous until it got dark.

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Day 3 Lincoln to Hull 59 miles



Had a bit of a lie in to recover from yesterday and left at midday. The ride through the country lanes was smooth and picturesque, passing quaint villages. I got to the Humber Bridge at 4.30pm and stopped for a bit to admire the architecture and the view. there were also workers adjusting the bridge which was fascinating to watch. The ride along the A63 was fairly frightful the arctics getting pretty close. After 5 miles I turned onto the A1079 and the cycle up to my host for the night was fine even if i did miss the road and go three quarters of a mile further past her house. I went to a couchsurfing meeting with Sarah and her boyfriend Pete, at the local Wetherspoons having a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Day 2 Cambridge to Lincoln 105miles

I set off at about 9am having said my goodbyes to Neil as he left on his bike for work. The Country lanes were winding and I got a good pace up despite a strong cross wind between Ramsey and Benwick that nearly took me off on several occasions. I took it easy in the morning to Peterborough stopping to take picture along the way whilst listening to Fern on Radio 1. It was 1pm before I reach Peterborough tough and I realised i was behind so no time to stop in the city, it was straight up the A15 having made a quick pit stop for provisions. I devoured these in the memorial gardens at Bourne where a group of girls asked me whether I was doing this for charity and if I had any spare t-shirts. Sadly I didn't, but I gave them a card so they could have a look at the website, which they got very excited about.

The road seemed long and I began to worry that I wasn't going to make Lincoln by night fall it was 25 miles to Sleaford and to be fair it was taking a while I left Bourne at 3.30pm 7 miles into this route with no idea how far Lincoln was. I raced and got to Sleaford at 5pm with 18 mile to Lincoln. I pushed on harder though I was getting more and more tired having already covered over 80 miles. Then the road started rising and falling and the strong cross winds started to worry me. Lorries rushed past from behind dragging me on and then from the front forcing me to grip for dear life but I survived, barely. My determination had payed off, the culmination was a 35mph fly down the hill into Lincoln and a 2mph ride up the hill to St. Giles where I was staying for the night. I had covered 105 miles today and I was beat.

Amy my host is going travelling in SE Asia next year like myself and we spoke for hours about places we are going and logistics. Here Gran cooked us a nice curry and after a couple of drinks we wandered in the rain to see the cathedral which is stunningly lit by night. We got drenched so a warm shower later, I headed off to bed.

Day 1 London to Cambridge 67 miles

I set off for London at about 9am as I planned to do the London Skyride with my friend Laura before setting off at midday. Having cycled to Moor Park met station i discovered it was undergoing engineering works, so was forced to return to Watford Junction to catchy a train. The first one was full but I managed to get on the second and rode into central London from Kensington Olympia with a family I had met at the Junction. I then rendezvoused with Laura at Euston and we set off for the Skyride it wasnt a disappointment with a sea of yellow cruising the embankment to St. Jame's Park. Having done a quick lap of Trafalgar Square we set off back up the embankment and i started the clock under Charing Cross station We were off.

Up through the city, old Street and Hackney, I left Laura at the Le Bridge roundabout and headed off up the A104 through Leyton. It was all slightly up hill but I made a good pace and was soon passing through Epping. From there it was a straight run to Cambridge, via Harlow and Bishop's Stortford. It would be fair to say that i was aching as I passed through Epping and was wondering by this point what I was doing. My groin, left hand and shoulders all screaming at me to stop but i carried on following a quick stretch.

As I rode into Cambridge I couldn't help but notice that these were some of the best roads and cycle paths I had every been on. The City itself is beautiful, its architecture stunning and cobbled streets reminiscent of a gone by era. Sadly it was getting late and I needed to head off for Waterbeach my stopping point for the night before the sun set on me.

Neil was a fantastic host and took me out to dinner at the local pub where we enjoyed gammon egg and chis whilst discussing life and past travels. It was almost midnight before i turned in but it had been a successful day, having covered 22 miles on the Skyride and another 67 up to Waterbeach.

John Goes Pink

Here is the video of my hair being dyed pink.

From Black to Pink

This is the video of the transformation of the bike.

Sunday 29 August 2010

The Route

Stops
 
1Cambridge   5/9/2010

2Lincoln 6/9

3Hull 7/9
 
4Helmsley 8/9

5Newcastle 9/9

6Wooler 10/9

7Dunfermline 11/9

8Blairgowrie  12/9

9Aberlour 13/9
 
10Inverness 14/9

11Helmsdale 15/9
 
12John O’Groats 16/9
 
13 Helmsdale 17/9
 
14Inverness 18/9
 
15Fort William 19/9
 
16Crianlarich 20/9
 
17Glasgow 21/9

18Eskdalemuir 22/9
 
19Keswick 23/9
 
20Morecambe  24/9

21Manchester 25/9

22Shrewsbury 26/9
 
23Cinderford 27/9

24Bath 28/9
 
25Taunton 29/9
 
26Okehampton  30/9
 
27Redruth 1/10
 
28Truro 2/10

29Plymouth 3/10
 
30Exeter 4/10
 
31Dorchester 5/10

32Southampton 6/10

33Brighton   7/10
 
34London 8/10


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Here is a link to the article in the Watford Observer.

Thursday 26 August 2010


Hello and welcome to my blog this is the first video i made for the ride and i hope you enjoy it. There are many more to come including my bike being sprayed pink and my hair being dyed yes you guessed it........pink. Not to mention i will be doing a video blog along the way as i ride. So please keep revisiting this site.